Pull-ups and chin-ups are a great way to improve upper body strength or to start a fitness routine. There are different ways to do this exercise, but the simplest and most convenient way to get your daily dose of pull ups in is to be able to perform them at your home. A wall mounted or door frame mounted pull up bar is a great addition to your home exercise equipment, particularly if you’re limited for space. The biggest problem I hear regarding door frame fixed pull up bars is that it causes damage to the wall or the door frame… not ideal. Here are the most common complaints, the causes of damage and how to protect against it. No product is perfect, but I’ll do my best.
The most common problem that results in door frame damage when it comes to home pull up bars are:
- The product not fitting their door frame
- Pull up bar rubbing against the door frame.
Here’s how to easily avoid this problem:
There are a variety of pull-up bars on the market and its very importance to choose the right one for your door frame. Check out our comparison page here and be sure to select a high quality pull up bar which is suitable for your door frame width. Make sure you read the individual reviews as well. As with most products – you get what you pay for, so it’s worth investing in a quality brand product rather than a cheap knock off.
Some pull up bars will extend from 26 inch to 37 inches, which is great if you need to make adjustments or are likely to move it from one spot to another. Before buying, take a moment to measure your door frame, just to be sure! You can also fix your problem by using pipe extensions. In this case we recommend to check iron gym pull up bar which easily fits to any standard door-frame.
There are three things in particular that you should look for in any doorway pull up bar, when it comes to avoiding door frame damage:
- Is the pull up bar high quality and in particular has built in foam padding build for prevent door frame or wall damage.
- Use small towels for added cushioning between the pull up bar side pieces and the door frame.
- Making sure that your pull up bar FITS your door frame
- Check the installation guide to make sure you have installed it correctly.

What about pull up bars causing wall damage?
A wall mounted pull up bar takes a great degree of load when in use and so its’ imperative that it is fixed in a way that can support the weight of the person performing the exercises.
Always use a stud finder to locate a suitable bearer within the wall to fix your apparatus to. Check with an experiences tradesman or your local hardware store to select suitable fixings, whether that means dynabolts or heavy gauge screws.
Obviously installing a wall mounted pull up bar will create holes in the wall where it is attached, so its’ probably a good idea to check with your landlord beforehand, if you don’t own your property.
If installed correctly, a wall mounted pull up bar shouldn’t cause any damage to the wall other that its’ fixing points.